Illinois Criminal Code of 1961

Article 31: Interference Crimes Against Peace Officers

Police officers, firefighters, and correctional employees are imperative for keeping peace in our society. As a result, Illinois legislators describe in this portion of Article 31 several crimes related to interfering with these public employees and their actions.

The first crime in this section is resisting or obstructing a peace officer, firefighter, or correctional institution employee. If someone resists or obstructs the performance of someone they know to be a police officer, firefighter, or correctional employee, they may be convicted of a Class A misdemeanor. Illinois criminal law states that if found guilty of this crime, a defendant must serve either 48 hours in jail or commit to at least 100 community service hours.

Next, lawmakers describe the crime of disarming a peace officer. More serious than simply resisting or obstructing, disarming occurs when a person takes a weapon from someone he or she knows to be a police officer or correctional employee. This crime carries a serious, Class 1 felony status, and without an experienced criminal defense lawyer, a defendant would surely find themselves facing significant prison time.

(a) A person who knowingly resists or obstructs the performance by one known to the person to be a peace officer, firefighter, or correctional institution employee of any authorized act within his official capacity commits a Class A misdemeanor.

(a-5) In addition to any other sentence that may be imposed, a court shall order any person convicted of resisting or obstructing a peace officer, firefighter, or correctional institution employee to be sentenced to a minimum of 48 consecutive hours of imprisonment or ordered to perform community service for not less than 100 hours as may be determined by the court. The person shall not be eligible for probation in order to reduce the sentence of imprisonment or community service.

(a-7) A person convicted for a violation of this Section whose violation was the proximate cause of an injury to a peace officer, firefighter, or correctional institution employee is guilty of a Class 4 felony.

(b) For purposes of this Section, "correctional institution employee" means any person employed to supervise and control inmates incarcerated in a penitentiary, State farm, reformatory, prison, jail, house of correction, police detention area, half-way house, or other institution or place for the incarceration or custody of persons under sentence for offenses or awaiting trial or sentence for offenses, under arrest for an offense, a violation of probation, a violation of parole, or a violation of mandatory supervised release, or awaiting a bail setting hearing or preliminary hearing, or who are sexually dangerous persons or who are sexually violent persons; and "firefighter" means any individual, either as an employee or volunteer, of a regularly constituted fire department of a municipality or fire protection district who performs fire fighting duties, including, but not limited to, the fire chief, assistant fire chief, captain, engineer, driver, ladder person, hose person, pipe person, and any other member of a regularly constituted fire department. "Firefighter" also means a person employed by the Office of the State Fire Marshal to conduct arson investigations.

(c) It is an affirmative defense to a violation of this Section if a person resists or obstructs the performance of one known by the person to be a firefighter by returning to or remaining in a dwelling, residence, building, or other structure to rescue or to attempt to rescue any person. (Source: P.A. 95-801, eff. 1-1-09.)

(720 ILCS 5/31-1a) (from Ch. 38, par. 31-1a)

Sec. 31-1a. Disarming a peace officer or correctional institution employee. (a) A person who, without the consent of a peace officer or correctional institution employee as defined in subsection (b) of Section 31-1, takes a weapon from a person known to him or her to be a peace officer or correctional institution employee, while the peace officer or correctional institution employee is engaged in the performance of his or her official duties or from an area within the peace officer's or correctional institution employee's immediate presence is guilty of a Class 1 felony.

(b) A person who, without the consent of a peace officer or correctional institution employee as defined in subsection (b) of Section 31-1, attempts to take a weapon from a person known to him or her to be a peace officer or correctional institution employee, while the peace officer or correctional institution employee is engaged in the performance of his or her official duties or from an area within the peace officer's or correctional institution employee's immediate presence is guilty of a Class 2 felony. (Source: P.A. 96-348, eff. 8-12-09.)

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